The present invention relates generally to the generation of reports of medical treatments and procedures and more particularly to a voice recognition system for electronically capturing images from a video camera and combining them with dictated text into an integrated medical report and patient record.
Most physicians generate notes describing their observations either while performing or immediately after performing surgery or other medical procedures. Usually, these notes are dictated by the physician and later manually transcribed by a stenographer into a written report. These reports are then used for patient education, referral reports, marketing efforts, archiving, and to comply with regulatory requirements.
Due to an increased use of video cameras in surgical procedures, images are now frequently available to supplement the dictated notes. However, most hospitals do not have the equipment required to print high quality still color images from a video imaging system so that they can be incorporated, along with the transcribed observations of the physician, in the patient's permanent medical record.
Software is available in the art that allows images derived from a video camera system to be printed directly into a document or report which also contains the surgeon's notes. Such systems, available for example from Med Images, Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn., "grabs" a video frame on command of the surgeon and stores the "grabbed" image frames so that the surgeon can later view them as he or she dictates a description of the procedure and other comments regarding the images. The images and dictated audio information are then transmitted to a central transcription location by a modem. The audio information is then transcribed by a stenographer and printed onto a report onto which the grabbed still images have been printed.
The problem with these prior art systems is that the reports are expensive to produce because the color images and audio data must be must transmitted via modem to the central location where the report is then prepared in a two step process. That is, the audio information must be transcribed and formatted in a word processor by the stenographer. Because the stenographer and surgeon are working in separate locations, editing of the report presents a significant problem. For example, questions concerning certain unclear passages must be answered through telephone conversations but the surgeon often is not immediately available. In addition, dictated passages that are transcribed incorrectly must be corrected by the stenographer after a call or letter from the surgeon. This requires reprinting and re-delivery of the finished report.
In the prior art medical record reporting systems, the transcribed information is printed, using a standard laser printer, with spaces or regions left blank on the page for the color images which are then added during a second printing step, using an expensive high resolution drum printer. This is a cumbersome process due to problems in registering the printing of the images within the blank regions adjacent the pre-existing printed text. After the completed report is proofread, it is delivered to the hospital or surgeon's office, usually using an expensive overnight delivery service.
What is needed, then, is a system whereby still electronic images captured from a video camera during surgery can be stored electronically at the command of the surgeon and automatically combined with readable text generated from the surgeon's oral comments.